Elijah Shanklin, 10, left, Leilynn Shanklin, 6, middle, and Isiah Scott, 14, paddle a raft in rain water that turned a large lot into a lake across from their home on Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017 in Beaumont.

Isiah Scott, 14, left, Leilynn Shanklin, 6, middle, and Elijah Shanklin, 10, paddle a raft in rain water that turned a large lot into a lake across from their home on Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017 in Beaumont.

Richard Shanklin and his wife Kayla Gillette, watch as their children paddle a raft in rain water that turned a large lot into a lake across from their home on Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017 in Beaumont.

Customers run to the Ross department store to get out of the sudden downpour in Menifee Thursday, August 3, 2017.

Richard Shanklin helps his daughter Leilynn Shanklin, 6, out from a raft after she went for a ride with her brothers, Isiah Scott, 14, left, and Elijah Shanklin, 10, in rain water that turned a large lot into a lake across from their home on Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017 in Beaumont.

Heavy rainfall pours out of the gutters from Living Spaces during the sudden downpour in Menifee Thursday, August 3, 2017.

Motorists navigate flooding along Antelope Rd during a sudden downpour in Menifee Thursday, August 3, 2017.

A truck crosses East 8th Street at Maple Avenue in Beaumont following an afternoon storm that soaked residents and flooded streets prompting police to close some of the city’s streets. Strong thunderstorms, with the potential for flooding and damage from wind and hail popped up, Thursday August 3, 2017 across the Inland Empire. One developed over Beaumont with the potential to produce quarter-size hail and 60-mph wind gusts, according to the National Weather Service.

Amber Squires, 27, wades across Maple Avenue in Beaumont after a storm dump heavy rain on the city. Strong thunderstorms, with the potential for flooding and damage from wind and hail popped up, Thursday August 3, 2017 across the Inland Empire. One developed over Beaumont with the potential to produce quarter-size hail and 60-mph wind gusts, according to the National Weather Service.

Customers try to stay dry during a sudden downpour in Menifee Thursday, August 3, 2017.

Strong thunderstorms once again turned streets into rivers in parts of the Inland Empire on Thursday, but drier conditions are expected to return to most of the region Friday.

After a late-afternoon storm passed over Beaumont — dropping almost 2 inches of rain, according to a radar analysis — Richard Shanklin and his kids took advantage of a catch basin near their house that filled with water.

He loaded up daughter Leilynn Shanklin, 6, son Elijah Shanklin, 10, and stepson Isiah Scott, 14, into an inflatable boat and they began paddling around in the calf-deep water.

The property next to Stewart Park floods almost every year, Shanklin said. Neighbors nicknamed it “Lake Beaumont.”

By 7 p.m., all of the city’s flooded roads had reopened, although some streets were still partially blocked by downed trees, a city spokeswoman.

Another storm that popped up over Menifee brought almost as much rain, radar showed. It came down diagonally as strong winds blew through.

Strong storms accompanied by lightning also developed over the mountains and deserts.

One cell dropped 2-3 inches of rain over the southern portion of Joshua Tree National Park, causing flooding that forced officials to close the road coming into the park at the Cottonwood Visitor Center. Even after the rain tapered off, a flood advisory was to remain in effect until 7:45 p.m.

Similarly, in the Pioneertown/Rimrock area northwest of the park where rural roads flooded, a flash-flood warning remained in effect for about two hours after the rain stopped as runoff continued to fill dry washes. Radar showed that area got almost 2 inches of rain in just a couple of hours Thursday, and more than 4 1/2 inches over the past three days.

The storms faded as the evening wore on. A flash-flood watch that has covered most of the region since Tuesday was set to expire at 10 p.m. Thursday.

“Drier air will move in from the southwest on Friday, and thunderstorms will be much less likely, mainly limited to the higher mountains,” the National Weather Service said in an afternoon analysis.

So does that mean Southern California will begin feeling less … well, the nice way to say it would be “tropical,” but “gross” works too. Meteorologists believe so.

“Humidity will lower Friday through the weekend,” the analysis continues. “Fair weather will prevail from the weekend through most, if not all, of next week.”

Temperatures will be seasonal, with highs in the 90s.

Thursday was the third day in a row of afternoon thunderstorms that have lit up skies, broke tree branches, contributed to accidents and delivered measurable rainfall to most of the Inland region.

Those rainfall amounts have varied considerably. For the 72-hour period from 3 p.m. Monday to 3 p.m. Thursday, several areas — mostly in the mountains and Riverside County desert — received well over an inch of rain. Others spots got a few tenths of an inch. Few places remained dry all three days.

The storms didn’t announce their presence quietly, either. Hundreds of lightning strikes and thunder were reported in various locations of the Inland region.

Brian Rokos writes about public safety issues such as policing, criminal justice, scams, how law affects public safety, firefighting tactics and wildland fire danger. He has also covered the cities of San Bernardino, Corona, Norco, Lake Elsinore, Perris, Canyon Lake and Hemet. Before that he supervised reporters and worked as a copy editor. For some reason, he enjoys movies where the Earth is threatened with extinction.

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